You Have No Power Over Me
by Kel
Summary: Zelas catches Xellos goofing off, and he has to think up a reason for what he's doing. Zelas doesn't appreciate his inattention, and forces him to act on his spur of the moment excuse. This one dances on the edge of X/F, but only on the edge.
1. Xellos's little secret

Prologue: Xellos's little secret  
  
Xellos, the trickster priest, was indulging in a guilty pleasure. He had snuck away from his Master while she was occupied, found a comfortable tree in a secluded location, and was deeply engrossed in an ancient manuscript. In fact, he was so deeply engrossed that he never noticed the summons from his master ringing across the astral plane, or the fact that he had been gone for most of the afternoon.  
  
He was happily humming to himself as he flipped the last page. Suddenly, the book was gone, and the world went swirly. He blinked the dirt out of his eyes, and looked up into the very unhappy face of his master. She was standing on his chest, and looking unhappily at the book in her hand.  
  
"What is THIS?" she asked, shaking the book at him. "And why were you reading it so intently you ignored ME?" She bounced lightly on his chest to remind him she was not pleased, ignoring the fact that his corporeal body didn't really need air.  
  
"Well, I was just ... doing a little research." He struggled to get his brain working. What reason would his master accept for reading ancient children's literature. If she ever found out about his hobby, she'd never let him live it down.  
  
Zelas Mettalium hid the grin at her Priest's lie. She thought that maybe forcing him to act on his excuse would be amusing... maybe that annoying dragon girl....  
  
"Very well." She said, floating off his chest. "I look forward to seeing your plan come to completion. You have one week, but make sure that if it doesn't work, no one suspects anything. And make sure the dragon has a chance... a very tiny one, but a real one, none the less. More sporting that way."  
  
She tossed the book down beside her priest, laughing as she teleported away. "And Xellos, make it amusing to watch... then maybe I won't punish you for lying to me."  
  
Xellos sighed in relief, and picked up his book.  
  
"Well, at least I get to be the Goblin King... and it'll be amusing to make Filia try to get her... ward... back. Maybe I can make some of the lesser monsters act out the goblin parts..." 


	2. The plan begins to take shape

Chapter One: The Plan begins to take shape  
  
Filia was bored. Yes, she had opened her tea shop and pottery shop, but she was still feeling discontent. She missed Lina and the others... maybe they would stop by for a visit. She had kept in touch with Amelia, being the easiest to track down with her fixed address. Maybe that was all she needed, a visit from friends.  
  
A knock on the door interrupted her just as she found her ink. She crawled out of the recesses of her still messy desk to see who it was. A brief glance in the mirror across from her front entryway told her that she wasn't too messy, but really should have taken time to fix her hair before opening the door. She smoothed it back impatiently, shaking the dust from her apron.  
  
When she opened the door, there wasn't anyone there... there was a small package on the steps with her name printed on the outside. Looking around, she spotted a young man walking away. She shrugged, guessing that someone had arranged for payment for a bill to be delivered, and picked the package up, tucking it into her apron pocket. She quickly returned to her letter writing, setting the ancient dragon egg in its basket beside her.  
  
Later than evening, after she had contracted the mail carrier to deliver her letter, she remembered the package she had received. Curious, she pulled the small parcel out of her apron pocket. She held it in her hand... small, but heavy. It couldn't be payment for any of her products, no one owed her enough to make up the package. She lit a candle, and gently cut the package's cord with a small engraving knife.  
  
The candle flame danced over the unfamiliar script of the title of the book inside the package. There was a picture of a snowy owl on the cover, and as Filia stared at the letters in puzzlement, they slowly grew clear.  
  
"The Goblin King and the Maiden" she read, "I wonder who would send me this... I don't think I ever mentioned my hobby to Lina or her friends... Maybe it's a mistake." She set the book gently on the table next to the flickering candle, and looked at the wrapping again. No, that was definitely her name, even if she didn't recognize the handwriting.  
  
Timidly, Filia opened the book, moving the candle closer for better light. The story opened with the main character, a young maiden, running late to watch her younger sibling while her parents attended a ball. The young maiden argued with her parents, who left her in charge of the baby. As soon as his parents left, the baby began to cry... the young girl attempted to comfort the babe, who only grew louder... finally in frustration, the young girl called upon the Goblin King to take the child far away.  
  
The light rain outside turned to lightening and wind, and all the candles in the castle were extinguished. The baby's crying stopped suddenly, and the young girl felt frightened. She attempted to light a candle to check on her younger brother, but her hands were shaking so hard that she was unable to strike a spark on the flint. She ran to the baby's cradle, throwing the shutters open, and saw by the faint light that struggled through the rain that the baby was gone.  
  
The young girl cried out in horror and loss, what had she done? The Goblin King must bring the baby back. She fell into a chair, tears streaming down her face. An owl flew in through the open shutters, flapping about the room before hovering in front of the girl. She raised her tear-streaked face to the owl, frightening tales of fairy folk dancing through her head.  
  
The owl was surrounded by a bright white light, and the King of the Goblins appeared before the girl. She begged for her little brother, but the Goblin King just laughed. 'You made a request, and I granted it.' He said 'It's too late to change your mind.' The maiden straightened up, and told him that she would fight all the way to the center of his power if she had to, but she was going to get her brother back.  
  
The Goblin King transported them to the outskirts of a huge labyrinth, and told her that she had 13 hours to get to the city at the center of the maze. If she could do that, she could get her brother back. He faded away, only his laughter and the clock remaining to remind the girl of her goal.  
  
Filia blinked in the fading candlelight. She hadn't realized how late it was getting, but the story was so compelling... maybe she would just read a few more pages. In just a moment, after she rested her eyes a minute... and made sure that house was closed up for the night.   
  
Filia absently stroked the book with her right hand while trying to figure out who sent it. While she sat in her chair, the candle slowly began to gutter, and her stroking grew slower and slower, until in the same moment that the candle flame drowned in melted wax, Filia drifted off to sleep.  
  
Xellos watched the golden dragon drifting off to sleep from the shadows, his usual mischievous grin growing darker as she slid into a deeper sleep. He levitated the golden dragon into his arms, then glared at the ancient dragon egg resting in the basket next to her chair. A quick head motion to the shadow, and a lesser monster grabbed the basket and followed Xellos as he teleported away. 


	3. Entering the Labyrinth

Chapter 2: Entering the Labrynth  
  
Filia woke up to a soft twilight. Her first thought was to wonder where exactly she was, her bed wasn't this hard, and the morning sunlight shone directly on her pillow. Her room was lighter than this even on overcast days, and something was tickling her nose. Her eyelids fluttered open, meeting laughing violet eyes.  
  
Filia gasped and pulled backwards, hitting her head on the roots of the tree she was lying under. Xellos laughed at her expression, closing his eyes.  
  
"Good morning, Filia." He grinned, twirling the feather he had been tickling her nose with. "You are a very sound sleeper, aren't you?"  
  
"What are you doing here?" Filia demanded, reaching for her mace. She stopped in confusion when her hands met a rough pant fabric instead of her usual soft skirt. She looked down, realizing she was now wearing a strange pair of rough blue pants, a flowing white shirt, and a pretty white vest. At least she was still wearing her boots, even if they had changed.  
  
"Don't bother looking for this," Xellos said, holding up her mace. "I'm hanging on to this until you've finished the... challenge."  
  
Filia stopped inspecting her new clothing, and glared at the unrepentant Mazoku. "Don't think you can get away with this. There are rules, you know."  
  
"Ah, Filia, you can't talk to the Goblin King that way." Xellos scolded, shaking his finger at her. "That wouldn't be playing by those rules you are so fond of, would it?"  
  
Filia stopped advancing on him, noticing that not only had she been moved from her house and had her clothes changed, but that Val's egg was missing. Her eyes narrowed in preparation for an attack before his words sank in.  
  
"What rules?" She demanded, her fangs showing. "And where have you taken Val's egg."  
  
Xellos played with his lace cuffs, a secret smile flitting across his lips. He waited to answer her, letting her anger grow almost to the breaking point.  
  
"Well, Filia. I sent the challenge, and you accepted it." He replied, eyes opening slightly to reveal amethyst backed slits. "I've set the game up, the least you can do is play it."  
  
Filia advanced towards Xellos, ready to beat him for the return of her ward. He held a hand up to stop her, and continued in a mocking tone.  
  
"You know that the only way you can get Val back is to play the game." His smile turned cruel. "You could always admit that you don't have what it takes to play and just leave."  
  
Filia growled at his insinuation. "I don't think so. There isn't a game in the world that you can beat me at, Xellos." Her fisted hands started raising up.  
  
"Very well, Filia. Make it to the center of my maze before the clock strikes midnight and you will get your ward back again." Xellos faded out of view, his voice echoing eerily across the hillside.  
  
Filia looked around wildly, seeing the clock floating next to the tree. It was a strange clock, with thirteen hours instead of the usual twelve. The hands of the clock were running backwards towards Thirteen O'Clock.  
  
Filia looked around, hoping for a clue, but all she could see was the tree, the clock and a wall with a huge set of doors in it. She sighed, and straightened her vest in preparation for her challenge, then headed down the hill towards the walls.  
  
She soon reached the walls, but quickly realized that she had been mislead by the size of the walls. The doors were much further away than she had estimated, and much too large for her to open on her own. Even with her dragon strength, her human hands would have a very difficult time reaching around the door handles.   
  
Because the challenge had been issued to her as a human, she wasn't able to take dragon form without forfeiting. At least Xellos would have to limit himself to normal magic as well, conjuring or purchasing all his props. Using his Mazoku essence would be a breach of the game, and she would automatically win.  
  
"No way that Mazoku can limit himself successfully, and I doubt that he has money, so this should be easy." She muttered to herself as she walked further along the wall. Filia was so lost in thought that she didn't even notice the small figure in her path.  
  
"FIREBALL" the figure cried, throwing a tiny fireball into the bushes. Something small squealed and fell to the ground. "Fifty-Seven!" the figure cried, flinging her red hair away from her face.  
  
Filia stopped in confusion. "Lina?" She asked, walking towards the figure. "Lina, what are you doing?"   
  
Filia looked down at the tiny figure on the ground. A fairy lay sprawled on the ground, looking up at her helplessly.  
  
"Oh. How cute." Filia bent to pick up the tiny fairy. The fairy blinked up at her, then sunk a tiny set of very sharp teeth into her thumb.   
  
"Ouch!" Filia cried, shaking the fairy out of her hand. "It bit me!"  
  
The redheaded figure stomped on the fairy. "It's a fairy, what did you think they do?" she demanded of Filia.  
  
"Oh." Filia stuttered, "I thought they granted wishes and things like that."  
  
The redhead shook her head at the ignorance of that statement. "Where did you hear a silly thing like that?" She demanded, before fireballing another fairy and crowing "Fifty-Eight!"  
  
"Ummm..." Filia began, then shook her head and continued. "Lina. What are you doing here? Aren't you still traveling with Gourry?"  
  
The redhead grimaced at Filia. "My name is Hoggle." She said abruptly. "I don't know this 'Lina' person." She turned away from Filia to continue her fairy hunting.  
  
"FIREBALL! Fifty-Nine!"  
  
"Wait, Lina" Filia began, reaching out towards the woman.  
  
"Hoggle!" Lina/Hoggle yelled, stamping her foot. "Not Lina! Hoggle!" She turned back towards Filia, fairy hunting forgotten for the moment. "Don't you have anything better to do than annoy me?"  
  
"Well, Lina... ummm, Hoggle" Filia began, "I need to find my way to the center of this maze, but I can't even figure out how to get into it..."   
  
Filia motioned towards the maze wall.  
  
Lina/Hoggle turned back to Filia, "Maybe you just need to ask the right questions. FIREBALL! Sixty!"  
  
Filia sighed and followed Lina/Hoggle.  
  
"How do I get into the Labyrinth?" she asked, sighing at Lina's odd preoccupation.  
  
"Ah..." Lina/Hoggle said, turning towards Filia, "Now that's more like it!"  
  
Lina/Hoggle walked past Filia, motioning towards a slightly smaller set of doors, "You get in... there." As Lina/Hoggle spoke, the doors opened themselves, mist streaming out through the doorway.  
  
Filia stepped through the doorway gingerly, not sure what to expect. The corridor in front of her stretched out in either direction, falls of braches and piles of leaves scattered throughout. The walls gleamed wetly, and Filia drew back, not wanting to get slime on herself. Filia ignored her desire to clean the corridor, concentrating on her need to retrieve Val's egg.  
  
Filia was concentrating so hard that she didn't notice when Lina/Hoggle walked into the Labyrinth beside her.  
  
"Cosy, huh?" Lina/Hoggle said, causing Filia to jump slightly and gasp. Lina/Hoggle laughed at Filia's discomfort. "So, you going left or right?"  
  
Filia looked each direction as Lina/Hoggle pointed to them. Both corridor directions looked similar, and both were in desperate need of a thorough cleaning.  
  
"They... both look the same." Filia complained, continuing to examine the corridor.  
  
Lina/Hoggle laughed again. "You're not going to get very far with that attitude."  
  
"Well," Filia began, "which way would you go?"  
  
"I wouldn't go either way!" Lina/Hoggle stated.  
  
"Well, if you're just going to make fun of me, why don't you leave." Filia snapped.  
  
"I think I will. You know your problem, Filia? You take too much for granted." Lina/Hoggle flounced past Filia, muttering something about stuck-up dragons.  
  
Filia blinked in surprise. "I guess that really was Lina..." she said to herself as the Labyrinth doors shut behind Lina/Hoggle. 


	4. A Riddle

Chapter 3: A riddle  
  
Filia turned to the right and began walking down the corridor. She stepped carefully over fallen branches and walked around piles of leaves, careful not to touch the apparently slimy walls.  
  
"Only Xellos would have a labyrinth that went strait, no turns or side passages at all." She muttered to herself. "Maybe I'm just taking it for granted that there aren't any..."  
  
With that, Filia began running down the passage. She ran until her side started to hurt, and her legs cramp from running in the unfamiliar human form. She skidded to a stop, discomfort overcoming her anger-induced desire to beat Xellos at his own game. She panted for a moment, leaning her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.  
  
"That stupid monster!" she cried, reaching for her trusty mace. Instead, her hand met her denim-covered thigh. "Oh! He took my mace!"  
  
Flames shot from Filia's eyes as her form began to shimmer... then she remembered the rules of the game and tried to calm down. She thought about Val in his egg, but that only worked to remind her of his current predicament, so she decided to handle her anger in time-honored tradition.  
  
After a few moments, Filia was sitting next to a spread tablecloth, cup and saucer set out and tea brewing. She poured herself a cup of her favorite blend, and began sipping from her pink flower petal cup.  
  
"I can't let that stupid Xellos win so easily. I bet he's just waiting for me to change into a dragon to try to skip this maze, just so he can declare himself the winner. I won't let it happen! Oh! This tea is so relaxing!" The dragon maiden slowly calmed herself down, reminding herself that any breech in her playing would end in her forfeiting the game, and Val's egg.  
  
"Oh, tea!" a little voice cried out. "Miss Filia, you're havin' tea!"  
  
"Jillas? What are you doing here?" Filia asked in surprise at seeing the little fox man.  
  
"Why, I don't really know, Miss Filia." Jillas looked confused for a bit, the noticed that something appeared to be missing. "Miss Filia, why're you sittin' here havin' tea when Lord Val needs rescuin'?"  
  
"I'm having a little trouble with the maze." Filia admitted, hanging her head in shame. "I can't seem to find any doors or corridors or anything."  
  
Jillas was concerned, he'd never seen Miss Filia at a loss for anything. Maybe he could help.  
  
"What about that one?" he said, pointing at the wall across from where Filia was sitting. "You could try that one."  
  
Filia looked up, staring at the wall. She stood, abandoning her empty teacup to walk closer.  
  
"I don't see any opening," she began, placing her hands palm out at chest height. Her confusion turned to astonishment as she walked through the space where her eyes had told her the wall was and into another corridor. She turned back to Jillas.  
  
"Thank you so very much!" she cried as she ran into the new passageway.  
  
"Wait, Miss Filia!" Jillas cried. The young dragon maid was so excited that she simply waved goodbye and ran up the passage.  
  
"Well, I suppose I should take care of this... never known Miss Filia to forget about her tea set before..." The little fox man shrugged, gathering up Filia's tablecloth and tea set, humming to himself while visions of Miss Filia rescuing his egg-bound lord danced in his head.  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
Xellos was bored. Filia was just running through the outskirts of the labyrinth, and Zelas was bound to become bored. He looked around the room he had assembled the lesser Mazoku in. They were sitting around playing cards and tormenting the extras for the next scene.  
  
A sudden inspiration hit him, and he grabbed a lesser Mazoku, whirling the group into a dance number.  
  
Zelas was bound to be amused by this...  
  
Back with Filia:  
  
Filia was feeling a little lost. She was carefully marking the route she had taken, but she was almost certain that the labyrinth was changing as she walked through it. Her suspicion was confirmed when she walked back through a doorway only to find the passage that she had just come from had disappeared.  
  
"Oh! That Xellos, he's not playing fair!" She complained out loud.  
  
"Did you really expect him to?" A voice called from off to the side.  
  
Filia looked up to find the dead end she had just been contemplating now had two strange figures standing in it in front of two oddly shaped doors. The figures appeared to be odd little beastmen carrying shields. As she watched, a second pair of heads peaked out from beneath the shields, looking at her quizzically.  
  
"Where did you come from?" She asked the figures. "This was a dead end a moment ago."  
  
"No," The second upside down man announced. "The dead end is right behind you."  
  
Filia turned to check as all four men laughed. They were correct; the passage she had just come through was gone, replaced by a blank stonewall. She sighed.  
  
"What am I supposed to do now?" She asked, turning back to the pair... err, pairs.  
  
The little men laughed.  
  
"Well," said one, "the only way out of here is to try one of these doors."  
  
"One of them leads to the castle, and the other leads to certain death." Said the other.  
  
Filia looked between the doors, they appeared the same. The only difference she could see was that one set of the little men was wearing red and carrying a shield with a red design and the other was wearing blue and carrying a blue designed shield.  
  
"Well," she asked quietly, "Can you tell me which is which?"  
  
The upright beast men hid their heads as the upside-down ones considered her questions. They looked at each other, then in unison replied.  
  
"Nope. We don't know!" The upside-down beast men motioned to the now hiding upright beast men with their chins. "But they do!"  
  
Filia sighed in annoyance, glad she had some practice at patience earlier with Lina/Hoggle. She unclenched her fists, and took a deep breath before replying.  
  
"So, can you tell me the way to the castle?" she asked sweetly.  
  
"We can, but you can only ask one of us. It's in the rules." The beast man on the left replied.  
  
"And one of us always tells the truth, while the other one always lies." The one on the right broke in. "It's in the rules, too."  
  
Filia's right eyebrow twitched. Her hands tightened into fists, and she drew in another deep breath. Both beast men hid behind their shields, not wanting to be trapped in a small space with an enraged dragon. Not even one in human form. They peeked out from behind the shields and Filia paused, deep in thought.  
  
Suddenly, the dragon maiden sprang forward with a smile. She walked up to the beast man on the left and leaned in close to him.  
  
"So, if I asked you if he" she began, motioning to the beast man on the right, "would tell me that this door leads to the castle, what would you say?"  
  
The beast man looked at her, his eyes going wide. He ducked behind the shield to converse with the upside-down beast man, who could be heard replying, "I don't know!" over and over again. After a moment of conversing, the upright beast man peeked back over the shield.  
  
"Yes..." he replied hesitantly.  
  
"Hah!" Filia jumped up and down in glee. "Then it's this door that leads to certain doom"  
  
"Death!" interrupted the upside-down beast men.  
  
"And the other that leads to the castle!" Filia continued, ignoring the interruption.  
  
"But what if I was lying?" Asked the beast man who had answered the question.  
  
"Then he wouldn't be, and the answer would be no." Filia replied.  
  
"But what if HE was lying?" asked the beast man.  
  
"Then you wouldn't be, and the answer would still be no!" Filia replied, making her way over to the other door. "I can't believe that I really got it! I'm better at this than that stupid Mazoku!"  
  
With a grin to the beast men, and a jaunty wave, Filia stepped through the door on the right. 


End file.
